Variable-speed gearing.



B.. H. GERARD. VARIABLE SPEED GBARING. APPLIOTION FILED 00T.9, 1912.

1,079,859, Paiented Elm/.25,19%

u umm! former showing the adjustmentoffthe gearv said gears whereby to obtain-.thenecessary changes of speed. f A single means isutilized I GERARD,

fvention comprises drive ygeirs,

6 curving downwardlyand terminating at entran STATES rrgrnn'r ernten.

ARY HANMOBE GERARD, OFiBEB/KELEY, CALIFORNIA.

VARIABLE-eraan GnAmNc-f;

1,079,852. Srwifwatiw 0f Letters Pant Patented Nov., 25, 1913. Application filed October 9, 1912. Serial No. 724,889. To all whom 'it may concern: arm 6 and is normally in mesh with the Be it known that I, ROY HANMORE a citizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California', have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Variable-Speed Gearing, of which the following is a specification.

This invention appertains to change speed gearing of the type designed especially for use in connection with motor vehicles.

Among the objects of the invention are to produce gearing of the abovey class in which a minimum number of gears are utilized, and wherein the gears are meshed face on` with a maximum nuinber'of teeth interlocked, the )arrangement and construction of the various parts of the wearing, including the operating means, eing designed. with a view to extreme simplicity. .The present gearing eliminates the necessity of employing 'a countershaft, the driven mem-k small drive gear 5.

The driving means forming a partof lthe gearing includes a large driving gear 8 of ring-like form, being internally toothed and having outwardly and inwardly curving' arms 9 connecting it with its hub 10. hub-10 is lkeyed or otherwise secured, as shownat 11, toadriven shaft 12 which. isv mounted Jr'or rotation in a bearing 13 of the swinging carrierflll. .The carrier 14 is connected Jfor movement` with an loperating 'shaft 15 at one fend 'of which is formed a lever 16. The lever-16 isy provided with a handle at its upper end'and passes through a locking plate 17, shown moreclearly in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Suitable notches or slots a, b, c and d are provided in the plate 17 to goyern the direction and `extent of movement of the lever 16 when the latter operates the carrier lato-control the engaging and vdisenga-gin of 'the driven lgearing ber is very light, and wear, friction and in respect to the drivegearmg. lt may be noise are minimized in the practical operaf noted, as shown in Fig. 2, that the hub 1Q of tion of the parts. 4the driven gear 8 is internally toothed, aS In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shown at 10, so as to 'provide a clutch.

is an elevation ot'achange speed gearing A description of the operation of the inembodying essential features of the inven-l vvention will present quite clearly the adtion. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken about vantages'ot the invention and theparticular on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1. Fig..3 is an` end coperation of the various elements of the viewof the gearing, the. parts bein shown. gearing. Supposing-that the lever 16 oc in the adjustment .necessary for vo taining the second or intermediate speed. Figs. 4:

cupies the position shown in dotted lines y K in Fig. 6, in respect to the lock plate '17, and 5 are sectional viewsv taken on the `lines no transmission of motion from the drive Lt--lyand 5-5 respectively of, Fig. 1,-, the shaft 1 to' the driven gearing will occur since none of the drive gears is meshed with a d'ri ven-gear. To obtain the low speed, the leverv will be 'moved to the right, as shown in Fig. 3, or toward the outer end of the slot c of plate 17, thereby causing the driven gear 8 to be intermeshed with. the small driving gear 5, as shown in Fig. 5. it the lever 16 be now moved in an opposite direction to engage in the slotd-the reverse gear 7 -will mesh with the driven gear 8 and the reverse speed produced. vExcept `when it is engaged with the gear 8, the reverse gear 7 operates purely as an idler. rotating in 'mesh with the gear 5 whilejthe drive gears are in operation.A In producing the reverse and low speeds as' above. described, theleven 16 is moved to swingthe carrier 14C' and the gear parts. mounted thereon.. New to se-f curo Vthe intermediate speed, the4 llerer 16 ismovedintothe slot b of the plate' 171, such ing to reverse, and-the latter .showingthe adjustment necessary in obtaining` low speed.

Briefly, a mechanism embodying the in. a ydriving gear or gears, and means fof; effecting rela tive longitudinal and 4lateral..movement ofto cause the relativefmorements of the-gears, as above suggested,`and may consist of a lever or equivalentdevice. v

Describing the invention in detail, in the drawingsxl denoteja drive shaft mounted in a suitablebearing 2 of theframe 3 and carrying the large gear 4 and the small gear 5. -Projecting frointhe frame 3 is an arm one side of the' gear` 5. A reversegearjl is journaledon the lower end portion of the engage ythe plate 1f? and'thereby hohl -thoi the rear axle of the vehicle.

@nated drivenv parts movement being caused by an initial longi- .tioned, carries the large driven gear' 8 into thesame plane as that including the large driving gear 4, and the subsequent lateral movement of the gear 8 intermeshesit. with the gear 4, thereby produci lthe intermediate speed. To secureV thenigh or direct speed, assuming that the parts be at the adjustment forv the intermediatespeed, the lever 16, is thrown out of the .slot Z1 into the slot@ and-moved to the outer extremity of said slota. In'otlier words, the abovemove-V ment ofthe lever 16v causes the gear 8 `to be swung by thefcarrier 14 out' of engage! ment with respect vto the gear 4, and then' causes they gear 8 to be moved longitudinally with the carrier 14; until 'the small ldrive gear 5 enters the' hollow toothed portion of thehub 10 of the gear 8. In thisinanner the gear 5 directly connects the-shaft 1 with the shaft 12. 4

It visiobvi'ous that any suitable provision may be made fortra-nsmitting motion from the driven shaft 12 to a. suitable point of utilization. This means, in the ordinary motor vehicle, would comprise the connection between the transmission gearing and.

F or this Jurpose a flexible shaft-might be coupled direct to the driven shaft 12 or, as shown in the a transmission gear 18 is keyed to the shaft 12 and in mesh with a cof operatin gear 19 `loosely mounted on the end of t e shaft 15 opposite' the lever 1G. I do not Wish to be limited, however, to the means comprising the gears 18 and. 19, or

in fact `to any means whatever, for transmit- `ting power from the driven shaft.

It `is to be understood further that the terms driving, drive and driven as used hereinare relative, as it is within the pui- Iview'of the invention that those parts desigmay', in tact, be the'.

driving parts,'under which conditions thev gearin would e the driven gearing. l a lcatch will be l carried by the lever 16 to lever at predetermined adjust-ments in the various slots a, 4b, c, {,Z of said plate.

IIa-vi ng n is claimed as new is:

1. In variable speed gearing,

'the combivgitudinally,

f illustrated l as the drive` gtiirdiiig Furthermore.

thus described the invention, what` nation of a rock shaft, an operating lever for `rocking said shaft, and for moving it lonan internally toothed gear supported by said'rock shaft for lateral and axial movements on the rockin" and longitudinal movements respectively of said shaft, said gear having a clutch element concentric therewith, a second shaft 'coaxial with respect to said gear, and gears of difierent diameters on said second shaft adapted.`

lto coperate with the internal gear, and one of which is eiigageable with the clutch element. l l

2. In combination, a support, a drive shaft, a plurality of drive gears carried by said drive shaft, a rock shaft mounted. in said support in parallel shaft, a lever for rocking and moving said rock shaft longitudinally, va carrier operable by the rock shaft and having a beariiifr therein, a driven shaft supported in sai bearing of the carrier, a gear and a clutch relement connected with said driven shaft,

longitudinal movement of the driven shaft under actuation of the rock shaft being adapted to cause engagement with the clutch element and one of the drive gears, while lateral movement of the driven shaft by the rock shaft will eauseengagenient of either drive gear with the gear of the driven shaft.

3. In variable speed gearing, the combination of aV drive shaft, driving gears of different Adiameters carried thereby, a reverse gear normally meshing with one of said drive gears and operating as an idler, *a driven shaft, a driven gear carried by said driven sha-tt, an operating shaft, a carrier operable th ,roby and supporting the driven shaft, and lever for actuating the operating shaft-:to cause longitudinal and lateral movementI of the carrier and impart corresponding i/novements to the driven gear to control meshing of the latter with the drive and'freverse geis aforesaid.

4t. In variablt;l speed gearing, the combination of a frame, a drive shaft mounted lhei'eondrivel gears carried by said shaft', a diivensiiatt, a driven gearearried by said shaft,a reversing gear arranged interinodiate certain of the drive and driven gears,

aziov ind. means intermediate said lever -`and' lvfor imparting longiovenient tothe latter, vgi iiiildisengage the drive ind reverse gear. v Y, I eof'flnilix my signature iii, presence of two ,1w i tiiesses.

' RQY "HNVMRE GERARD. Witii'essestf" Many II. Gnu/i n, Fiano ll. M'nrnii.

relation to the drive 

